An assistant prosecutor contends Viktor Shaholli fatally shot his daughter-in-law’s brother in response to her and his son’s plan to move from his home.

Assistant Macomb County Prosecutor Steven Fox said Shaholli “executed” Dashamir Matjani in the St. Clair Shores home the couple planned to move into because they defied the family patriarch and planned to move out of his large home, also in St. Clair Shores, where he wanted to create a communal environment.

“It’s about pride and power,” Fox said. “It boils down to control. … He was unhappy they were moving out.”

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Fox laid out the case for a jury Wednesday during opening statements for Shaholli’s first-degree murder trial in front of Judge Mary Chrzanowski in Macomb County Circuit Court in Mount Clemens.

It was the first revelation of motive details.

Shaholli, 64, is an Albanian immigrant residing here on a green card. He operated a stone business with his sons.

Fox said Matjani was helping the couple and other relatives renovate the Recreation Street home in the north end of the city Nov. 20, 2011, when Shaholli arrived, fired a shotgun blast into Matjani’s chest and fled, dropping the gun in the back yard.

A couple of hours later he turned himself in at the St. Clair Shores Police Department. Matjani died at McLaren Macomb hospital in Mount Clemens.

Fox said Shaholli’s daughter-in-law, Ermira “Allie” Shaholli, will testify the defendant told her shortly after the incident that he killed 29-year-old Matjani “so the rest of your family will hate you.”

Ermira Shaholli and her late brother’s parents reside in Albania, where his body was taken, accompanied by her.

Basri Sulolli, a friend of the defendant who talked to Shaholli minutes before he surrendered, will testify about Shaholli’s motive.

“He told me he (Matjani) swear on us,” Sulolli testified at the prior preliminary examination in 40th District Court in St. Clair Shores. “He didn’t specify exactly what he means. That means a lot of different things.” Sulolli said it could mean that Matjani called them “a son-of-a-b----,” “jerks,” “idiots” or used the word, “f---.”

But Fox said Matjani was an “innocent bystander” in the dispute over Arjan and Ermira Shaholli’s plan to move with their two children. Evidence will show “arguments” and “dissatisfaction,” Fox said.

Shaholli’s attorney, Tim Barkovic, in his opening statement revealed an insanity defense, contending Shaholli was depressed over his wife’s recent death and legally insane at the time, unable to distinguish between right and wrong.

Barkovic said Shaholli has suffered many “mini-strokes” that cause “vascular dementia” to contribute to his insanity.

Shaholli initially after his arrest was found mentally incompetent but regained competency in rulings by two judges, Chrzanowski and Judge Mark Fratarcangeli of 40th District Court.

Barkovic called the shooting a “mistake” and an “accident,” and in a sense agreed with the prosecution that the shooting was senseless.

“There was no reason, not one good valid reason … for the death of Dashamir Matjani,” he said.

He disputed that his client was angry about his son and daughter-in-law moving, saying the defendant gave them $20,000 to renovate the home.

“Does it make any sense to kill the brother of your daughter-in-law because they’re moving out of a house he paid for,” Barkovic said.

He noted Shaholli sponsored Matjani to immigrate to the United States from Albania.

He heavily criticized Ermira Shaholli, saying the crux of the prosecution’s case will rely on her biased testimony.

“The sister of the deceased hates this man, despises this man and will say anything to see that he is convicted of something he is not responsible for,” Barkovic said.

Barkovic plans to present psychiatrist Dr. Gerald Shiener as a witness to back his claim of his client’s insanity.

“It will become obvious that he has met the criteria for legal insanity,” he said.

Fox, however, said two state experts, a psychologist and psychiatrist, will testify that Shaholli is pretending to be insane.

He told jurors the “objective facts” of the case also show the defendant was sane. Shaholli knew what he did was wrong because he fled the shooting scene and later drove to the police station and made the statements to his daughter-in-law and Sulolli, he said.

Fox said Shaholli’s shooting of Matjani may be “crazy” but not insane, and in a metaphor made a veiled reference to his Muslim religion.

“That’s lay person crazy,” he said. “That’s not legal insanity. Jihad is crazy to me, but that’s not legal insanity.”

Fox displayed a photograph of a relatively clean-cut, shaven Shaholli around the time of the slaying compared to his current disheveled look, with messy, long hair and a long beard.

The trial is scheduled to continue Thursday. The prosecution is expected to present eight to 10 witnesses to testify.

About the Author

My beat is the courts of Macomb County and general assignment.
Read more of Jameson Cook's court coverage on his blog http://courthousedish.blogspot.com/ Reach the author at jamie.cook@macombdaily.com
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